who are we?

Catalpa magazine is a new, annual publication from the English Department at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, that explores curious perspectives rooted in the South: the unexpected, unconventional, and unorthodox.

FEATURES

When life gets too structured I like to travel and explore with no agenda or research, to find what is there to find. As I’ve gotten older I am not a collector of postcards, but roam the back alley for texture or sit in a park and watch it become a cinema. It is a hot July day when I arrive in Birmingham, Alabama, slightly more than two hours from my home in Tennessee.

More than a century ago, the American chestnut was decimated by a fungus. A group of scientists, volunteers, and university biology, geology, and environmental science departments are fighting to bring it back. But it will take a lot longer to restore the American chestnut to its place in the Appalachian forest than it did to destroy it.

The choice to sacrifice health for convenience; to elect globalization instead of localism in the marketplace; to secure a food industry rather than a community of cultivation, has mankind running to the hills—and back to the family farm.

For the past three years, Southside Abbey has been reimagining what church might look like and searching for better ways to serve the community by foregoing the trappings of modern churches and applying the basic tenets of Christianity to contemporary social problems.

Catalpa, a magazine of Southern perspectives, is now seeking articles, essays, profiles, vignettes and photography for our third issue. This round of submissions we’re searching for works centered around the deep-rooted complications and complexities of the contemporary Southern woman.

Deadline: Feb 1

Submission Guidelines

Catalpa accepts narrative nonfiction, journalism, essays, and short pieces paired with archival materials, as well as photography. We may consider fiction and poetry if they are spot on with our theme. Please submit by emailing catalpamag@gmail.com.